Mercedes dealership makes move to auto mall

As the sun sets Friday, a caravan of about 180 new Mercedes-Benz vehicles will head west on Mason Avenue to their new home at the Daytona International Auto Mall.

BOB KOSLOWBUSINESS WRITER

DAYTONA BEACH — As the sun sets Friday, a caravan of about 180 new Mercedes-Benz vehicles will head west on Mason Avenue to their new home at the Daytona International Auto Mall. It's all part of the relocation of Mercedes-Benz of Daytona from 1720 Mason Ave. to a new facility at 1188 N. Tomoka Farms Road, located at the south end of the auto mall. Mercedes-Benz of Daytona will open Saturday at the new location. "The other store is outdated and a poor location," said Gary Yeomans, owner of Yeomans Ford Lincoln and Daytona Mazda dealerships at the auto mall. Yeomans and West Palm Beach-based Automotive Management Services bought the Mercedes–Benz dealership in January from Charlotte, N.C.-based Sonic Automotive. "We did a market survey in Volusia and found that many people don't even know there is a Mercedes-Benz dealership in the county," Yeomans said. "There's a lot more visibility and higher traffic counts at the auto mall." Daytona International Auto Mall opened in November 2001 at the Interstate-95 interchange with LPGA Boulevard. Mercedes-Benz will be the auto mall's 12th brand manufacturer. The five-acre lot and new building cost about $7 million, according to Yeomans. "It's also a lot more convenient for the customers since it's easier to get to than Mason Avenue," Yeomans said. "The auto mall has great pull north and south, from St. Augustine to Mims in Brevard (County). The closest Mercedes-Benz dealers to us are in Jacksonville and Melbourne." The new facility, built by Ormond Beach-based Strasser Construction, is much larger than the current location, including a 3,400-square-foot showroom that is twice the size of the old building. The five-acre site also permits the dealership to carry more new and used vehicles, Yeomans said. Under the former owner, the dealership used to carry about 40 new vehicles. Yeomans beefed that up to 180 and wants to regularly carry 200 on the new lot at the auto mall. "Mercedes-Benz is a hot brand right now and availability is a challenge," Yeomans said. The dealership will begin moving vehicles to the new location Friday afternoon starting at about 3 p.m., with dealership employees driving about 10 vehicles at a time to the Auto Mall location.Customers also will find a new customer service lounge, small restaurant, children's play area and customer work stations with computers at the new station. The vehicle service area is tripled to 26 service bays. The area is also air conditioned and heated. "It may not mean much to the customer, but it's important to the workers," Yeomans said. The service department includes a smaller service group with mechanics dedicated to maintenance and repairs of older Mercedes-Benz vehicles. There also will be more loaner cars for customers leaving their cars overnight at the shop. The dealership will have a vehicle hauler to pick up vehicles for maintenance. Mercedes-Benz of Daytona is not the first to make the move from Mason Avenue to the auto mall. Fields BMW and Volkswagen made the move in 2009 and will be neighbors to Mercedes-Benz. Fields Auto Group, which is based in Winter Park, moved the Daytona Beach operations from one building into two separate and existing buildings. "The move was a great decision. We about doubled our traffic," said Bill Butler, general manager at Fields BMW and VW. "We welcome Mercedes. We were next to them for years and we match up well. I wish there were more dealers out here." The group tried selling its Mason Avenue site, but ended up opening a collision repair center. Yeomans said the 40 employees at Mercedes-Benz will make the move and he intends to hire 15 to 20 more employees as the business settles out in the coming months. Capital Automotive in McLean, Va. owns the current Mercedes-Benz location. Company officials could not be reached for comment on the possible future of the property.